Betsy Bailey
So very pregnant
Wow, I am getting huge. Every week I look and feel noticeably bigger. I am feeling...

Betsy Bailey

So very pregnant
Wow, I am getting huge. Every week I look and feel noticeably bigger. I am feeling pretty good except for the heartburn and the fact that my crotch hurts. I'm sorry, I know that is so crude, but I am trying to impart a sense of the extreme discomfort here and whining about my aching pubic symphisis just does not have the same effect. Anyway, it hurt with Hannah Mac, too, but I sure don't remember it ever reaching this level of debilitation, especially first thing in the morning when I get vertical for the first time. OW. I have to clutch the sink while lowering myself to the commode and I know I never had to do that the last two times. When I walk around I get a taste of what 90 might feel like it. Maybe I just need to do more of that walking thing. ;-)

I had my midwife appointment yesterday. According to my scales at home, it seemed I hadn't gained any weight since my last appointment and that had me slightly concerned (even though I should know better), especially since my eating habits could be a LOT better. I do a lot of snacking here at my computer and usually the nutritional level is somewhat less than optimal :-P. Popcorn for lunch too many days. Anyway, I was relieved to see that I had actually gained five since the previous appointment. I still need to get better about my diet though. Blah. I'm so lazy. Supposedly my baby is about two pounds now. Isn't that amazing? During the summer it was a lima bean and just a few short months later it is this big already. The wonder of this never ceases to fascinate me.

Getting in touch
Baby's position is LOA (head down, back facing out). I feel feet pretty consistently "tickling" me under the ribs on my right side (exactly like the girls were!) so baby seems to be semi-regularly in this position. A good thing since thats the ideal position for birth, of course, although the baby is a little diagonal at this point, not completely up and down. Every once in awhile s/he does a big flip though and tap dances on my bladder. VERY uncomfortable, bordering on pain, when s/he decides to do that. It's definitely too early to worry about optimal postioning and preventing breech/posterior positions, but I have been rather more concientous lately about maintaining a good posture, just in case it does make a difference. Based on my experience with HM, which included weeks of prodromal labor because she was just the slightest bit off-kilter, I know that encouraging a good position from here on out greatly increases my chances of a speedier labor. Besides, it's better for my back :-).

It was neat when the midwife palpated my abdomen to determine baby's position. Before she did it, I told her where I thought the various body parts were and was delighted to find out that I was right on the money... I like being so in tune like that and it makes it easier to visualize the person in there. Baby does not care for all that poking though and started kicking up a storm during the exam! We also heard the heartbeat on doppler because the placenta was in the way of the fetoscope again. It seems rather pointless to even have the heartbeat checked when the baby is so active! It kept punching both the fetoscope and the doppler away. The midwife got a kick out of that!

Bailey and HM LOVE the exam part, especially hearing the heartbeat. It surprises me, actually. I didn't expect them to really be so into that at their age. I can't imagine they really associate the heartbeat with a real live person, but they seemed impressed nonetheless. Bailey's eyes got wide and round and HM got so excited when she heard the thudthudthud that she started shrieking. She seems to be getting the idea all of a sudden that there will be another real person in her life. I hope she gets to see the baby born; imagine her exitement if just hearing the heartbeat gets her so wound up!